


Pursuit of Happiness

by libraenchanted



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angels, Blood Drinking, Fallen Angels, Family Issues, Immortals, Implied/Referenced Dubious Consent, M/M, Psychological Torture, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2021-01-02 22:35:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21168980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/libraenchanted/pseuds/libraenchanted
Summary: My life is ruled by two principles: 1) The people you love the most will hurt you the most, and 2) You can't lose anything if you have nothing.For over two years now, I'd been living a homeless, drama-free, delightfully uncomplicated life. Freedom was my middle name and I was the ultimate lone wolf until - well, untilhecame along.He, with all his “situations,” "secrets," and "problems" dropped the motherlode of troubles into my lap when he decided to save my life. It was totally uncalled for! Now, he's vanished - and - and I should really let it go. Go back to minding my own business. But for some stupid reason, I just can't seem to get him out of my head. Fuck.





	Pursuit of Happiness

**Author's Note:**

> I hate prologues...I have written a prologue :(

It fell from the sky on a cold rainy day. White hot at first, then a deep ember red, and finally, just before It hit the ground, It turned gray and black.

Samuel put on his rain coat and grabbed the flashlight that was sitting at the side table by the door. He hobbled out into the pouring rain, feeling the cold in the ache of his arthritic joints. The ones who fell in the dead of night usually dropped directly into the underworld, and were never seen again. But once in a while, you had one hit the world at the bookends of daylight - early evening, late morning - and occasionally, they survived.

7:14 p.m. This will be a close one. He pushed his old legs onward through the hidden path in the forest.

The dense pine and tangled bushes suddenly gave way to a crater, three football fields in diameter. Lightning briefly turned darkness into day. He could see a faint flicker of a tiny figure at the very bottom of the crater surrounded by eerie fog. The thunder that followed was deafening and filled with rage. Mud sucked at Samuel’s boots. Several times, he slipped and fell as he made his way down. He was out of breath when he finally came close enough to make out pale limbs and burnt blackened robes.

He reached out a hand, but with the next flash of lightning, he gasped and drew it back. It looked like a murder scene. The dim circle of illumination from his flashlight trembled over exposed jagged white bones running down the length of Its body from shoulder to upper buttocks, angry torn flesh, and the remains of baby feathers, now stained red with blood.

In all his life, Samuel had never seen anything so terrible. Someone had been very angry with this one. Angry enough to commit unthinkable violence before casting It out.

“Hello there, young one. Can you hear me?” Samuel said as he shook Its shoulder, the only part he could see that was not covered in blood.

He was encouraged by the sound of a pained groan. Gently, tenderly, Samuel turned It over and cradled It in his arms. He pushed away the heavy fall of hair that was brown with mud. As was expected, the androgynous features were genderless and ageless.

“What’s your name, young one?” Samuel asked urgently. The name was important. The name was what bound them to earth. They needed to say it as soon as they could.

It gasped through colorless lips and opened pained eyes.

“Your name, young one. You must say your new name.” Samuel pleaded. Then he repeated this many more times.

But as consciousness and awareness returned to It, It first tried to sit up with a body that was not accustomed to gravity, straining to see with eyes that were unaccustomed to the darkness. Samuel struggled to help, and dropped the flashlight. The light flickered out.

“What is it, little one?”

Lips moved a few times before It learned to breath out sound. “…brother…h-here…?”

Two in one night? Samuel looked around, but he recalled that there had only been one white flaring light. “I’m sorry, there is no one else. There hasn’t been anyone else for over ten years.” Then Samuel explained how he’d monitored the sky with all his modern equipments, how alarms would go off in his house no matter the time of the day, and how he always came here to this exact location. “Maybe he’ll come after you.”

It shook Its head, mouth opening and closing. “He jumped first…days ago. They caught me - before I could follow.”

“I see.” Samuel said sadly. That explained the injuries.

Its weight slumped in Samuel’s arms again, face rolling into Samuel’s wet coat. “Your name, little one.” Samuel prompted again.

When no reply came, Samuel understood. He offered up a silent prayer for the unnamed brother who was now a slave to the lord beneath, knowing God had turned His back on that one.

This one still had a chance though. But would It survive the grief? Would It have a reason to go on? Life on earth was hard enough for humans.

Samuel mentally prepared for the slow arduous journey back up the side of the crater. The rain was flooding the crater; the water had risen to his knees. Sometimes, he felt that he was getting too old to do this. But if not he, then who else?

With another heavy sigh, he lifted the fallen angel and turned toward the direction of the house.

* * *

In the bath, Samuel discovered that It was in fact, male. He had hair the color of flames; a wild array of autumn reds, sunny yellows, and all the colors in between. Secretly, Samuel thought that such beauty was wasted on a male.

A melancholy air surrounded the male. He was quiet and not like the others, who were filled with emotions and tears from the rebirth. The male let Samuel wash him, and did not even complain of the heat of the water against his tender newborn skin. He sat unblinking as Samuel tended to the wounds on his back. They were already beginning to heal. The newly formed scars were thick and unsightly, incongruous with the rest of his unblemished skin. He let Samuel cut off almost all his hair, dress him, and put him to bed.

He refused food, and Samuel didn’t insist because he wasn’t sure the male would make it through the night. However, the male survived. In the morning, Samuel found him sitting on the bed, watching his first sunrise from earth. He even made it through the next night too. Three days passed.

He surprised Samuel one morning when he finally left his room and came down for his breakfast. Across the table, he looked up from his half-eaten eggs, and asked gravely, “Why won’t He let me die?”

“Because God still has plans for you.”

Gaze lowered. “Punishment.”

“Perhaps,” Samuel did not bother sugar coating the truth. “But it’s also a second chance.”

“Is there such a thing for someone like me?”

“Yes,” Samuel’s eyes twinkled. “I’ve seen it.”

“What happened?”

Samuel made an upward sweeping motion with his finger, and their eyes followed the movement up to the ceiling.

“Heaven.” The male sighed wistfully. “But my brother -”

“Forget him, little one.”

“But what if he’s here? In this world?”

Samuel put down the newspaper where he had been reading his morning news. He made sure he had the male’s full attention before he said, “No, he’s dead. For all of eternity. You must not seek him out. There have been others like you who fell because they had hoped to meet someone here on earth. It becomes an obsession that consumes them because they _never _find what they're looking for. You might even meet people who claim they know your brother and you must never trust them. They hunt your kind. Forget your brother and your past. You must start anew. That is your purpose here in this world, the test that God has given you.”

Red head bowed over his plate. Samuel returned to his news as the scrape of fork across plate filled the kitchen.

“Thank you for all that you have done, Mr. Galante. You have been most generous with your resources and time. And advice. How can I ever thank you?”

“Call me Samuel, and think nothing of it. It’s what I’m here for…” He trailed off.

The male hesitated. “Asher. My name is Asher.”

Samuel leaned back and exhaled, feeling lighter as his heart swelled. Until now, he hadn’t realize how much he’d been rooting for this one.

“Think of this as your new home, Asher. You’re welcome to stay here as long as you’d like. But I know sooner or later you’ll become restless, and you’ll want to move on, and when that day comes, I don’t want you to worry about me. Old Samuel will do just fine. But you know,” Samuel scratched his head. “I kind of hope you will pay me visit me again one day. It would make me very happy to see your smile - to know that you’d finally found a reason to smile.”

Asher bit his lip, doubtful, but he slowly nodded. “I’ll do my best to oblige, Samuel.”


End file.
